Making It Go Away

A report from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office sent shockwaves through Washington last week. The CBO concluded the Affordable Care Act, when fully implemented in 2017, would reduce the American workforce by two million full time workers.

This is a stunning conclusion, but an obvious one: employers are cutting positions and cutting hours to escape the huge costs of providing insurance to their workers. Paying workers less shifts part of the burden to the government.

President Obama, who in the past has cited CBO statistics when trying to make a point, callously dismissed the report, claiming it was "subject to misinterpretation." The fact is the White House is reeling and, with midterm elections approaching, desperate to keep the Democratic Party rank and file in line or risk losing the Senate. So it is deliberately suppressing the truth.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid went so far as to say "stories" about the increased costs associated with Obamacare are "untrue." He neglected to mention the data is pouring in from all over the country. Large retailers, community colleges, local governments, even medical facilities, are all reporting the cost of complying with ACA provisions has become unbearable, and the only solution is to cut jobs, critical or not.

Even more callous than the White House ignoring the truth is found at the core of Obamacare: it is funded primarily on the backs of senior citizens. The shortfall built in to Obamacare will be made up from the government's contribution to Medicare Advantage Plans, a supplement to Medicare that helps seniors cope with the costs of some prescription medicines and life-saving treatments not fully covered by Medicare. Without the federal subsidies to Advantage, seniors on fixed incomes will literally either have to forego needed treatment or sell their remaining assets, like their homes.

Cynically and cruelly calculating, Obama sold out the senior citizens of this country, who were more prone to be conservatives that vote for his opponent, for the poor, uninsured whose plight he championed. Poverty-level voters delivered their votes to Obama in record numbers.

Think of the lunacy that has now become a reality: senior citizens who worked diligently for 40 years and who pieced together enough to buy a home have medical coverage that is inferior to the coverage the government provides to welfare recipients and drug addicts.

Obama is hell-bent on giving those who don't work everything they need, and that leaves the rest of us to pay for it. But what of the senior citizens who did more than their share for a lifetime and may need a little help now? Are they doomed to die a slow death while their hard-earned money is divvied up among the 47 percent?

Come November Americans will have their first real chance to fight back. Let's make the most of it.

The Big Duh

A recent press release from Congressman Tim Bishop shows how myopic he is, and how limited a grasp he has on basic financials.

Bishop, touting the Obama administration's call for an increase in the minimum wage, states it would "generate $35 billion for working families" as if the money is going to magically appear out of thin air.

Let us try to explain slowly and simply so Tim might have a chance of grasping what is happening.

The bill won't generate ANY money at all. The money will be shifted from the pockets of employers to their employees. Most employers - many of them small business owners — are already reeling from the increased cost of health insurance under Obamacare. Although raising the minimum wage is a noble idea, the truth is it will cost the loss of even more jobs, as employers will likely keep their payrolls the same by excising positions. Yes, workers will have a little more to spend, but their bosses a little less. More redistribution of the wealth – away from the Middle Class.